


"Am I Attractive?"

by WeezlBot



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Men Crying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 21:55:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20316619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeezlBot/pseuds/WeezlBot
Summary: Percy wants to know if he's attractive. Annabeth gives him the truth.Apparently, it's not quite the answer he had expected.Based off a textpost I saw from Tumblr user demidorks. Wrote it out in full for fun.





	"Am I Attractive?"

**Author's Note:**

> I had wanted to put up a finished oneshot for Percy's birthday yesterday but it didn't happen on the actual eighteenth, so here it is. Happy birthday, Percy! 
> 
> Oh, yeah, and sorry for making you cry. Again.

“Annabeth?” Percy mumbled into his giant blue Gyarados plushy. He was sitting against he and Annabeth’s bed with the plushy wrapped around his body. It was spring break, and he was really looking forwards to a couple of weeks of no work. 

“Mm?” Annabeth grunted, lying on the bed with her back to her boyfriend. 

“Tell me the truth. Am I attractive?”

Annabeth nodded. “You’re the most amazing living- you’re the most amazing and gorgeous boy in the entire universe.” 

Dead silence. “... Did I say something wrong? Was that too sappy? I know we’re not normally like that with each other, but…” She heard a muffled noise that sounded like air escaping from a balloon and rolled over, putting her hand on her boyfriend’s bare back. His shoulder muscles were tight. “... Oh my gods, are you crying? What did I say wrong? Percy, what did I say wrong? I’m so sorry. Oh gods, Percy, what did I do?” 

Percy didn’t respond. His muscles quivered slightly through their tension, like something was trying to break through. He  _ felt _ something trying to break through. Gods, no. Not here. Not now. Not in front of Annabeth. The vulnerability that had been building up inside him for the last seventeen or so years was held in by a fragile and paper-thin shield and he could  _ feel  _ it breaking; it felt like whatever had broken inside him in Tartarus except there were no enemies around to prick their feet on the shards in his heart this time, it was only him and Annabeth and the bed and the pillow and the plushy and the sharp little broken things could only hurt  _ him… _

“I’m so sorry, Percy, I really am, please tell me what I said because I really have no idea…” Annabeth rambled. She buried her head in the pillow. “I never meant to make you cry.”

Percy’s stomach churned. He didn’t want to upset her. He stifled the tears that were threatening at the corners of his eyes and stood up, shakily making his way to the other end of the room where the bathroom was. “I'm fine. I'm not crying. I'm just gonna go use the bathroom really quick.” He stumbled into the bathroom, sat down on the tile so he was blocking the bathroom door, and wept. Percy Jackson was a man finally broken after years of exhausting fighting; his heart was scarred and fragile, his mind and body were sick. He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t eat. He was not okay.

No one had ever complimented him like he’d just been complimented before. 

Annabeth was banging on the door. “Percy, really, are you okay? Please let me in. I don’t care if you’re on the toilet or something, just let me in, okay? I- I’m worried…”

Percy took a heavy breath and wiped his eyes. He needed to face his girlfriend. He’d hate it if she was to worry about him. He opened the door and faced her as their eyes met.

_ He looks  _ awful, Annabeth thought, She reached up and brushed her hand over his cheek. “Are… are…” She didn’t think an  _ are you okay _ would cut it when Percy was so clearly  _ not okay,  _ but she had no idea what else she could say. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why what I said upset you. I didn’t know it was something that would upset you.”

Percy grabbed her and pulled her close to his chest, burying his face in her shoulder. “I...I… I…” He gasped. “... umsurry… umsurry… umsorry…”

Annabeth bit back her own tears and whispered “It’s okay. It’ll be okay. I’m here. I’m here. I’m here and I’m not leaving. I’ll make it okay. I pro-” Annabeth couldn’t say it. She hated making promises. They always wound up being broken. “...I’ll do my best for you.”

Percy sucked in a hard breath and nuzzled Annabeth’s neck. “Thadk… thadk… thadk you…” He was a joke of a man.  _ Annabeth _ should be coming to  _ him _ for comfort, not the other way around. The shame was a black hole in his chest, sucking him into his core and eating him alive.

“Come on,” Annabeth soothed. “Let’s go to the bed, okay?”

Percy nodded. He let her guide him to their shared bed and sat down, shaking badly. “... I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Annabeth reassured. “I’m not mad. I’m just confused.”

“... I’m sorry. I just…” He gasped. “I just got a little choked up, that’s all. What was confusing about it?”

Annabeth nodded. “Okay. I mean, it’s just… People don’t just break down like that. I’m just beginning to wonder, I mean, have you ever been given a compliment in your  _ life? _ ”

Percy took a breath. “I think there might have been that one time with Paul.”

“... What about Chiron?”

“I don’t know, what about him?”

“Didn’t he give you compliments when he trained you?”

Percy sighed. “... Yeah. probably. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be such a baby about this.”

Annabeth leaned on his shoulder, reached an arm around his back and took his other hand with her other arm. “No, you’re fine. Don’t beat yourself up. You don’t have to explain yourself if you don’t want to.”

Percy swallowed. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Annabeth nodded and kissed his cheek. “It’s fine.” She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. “If anything, it’s good that some of that came out. It really hurts to see all the pain in your eyes sometimes.”

Percy didn’t know what to say. “... I didn’t know that I had pain in my eyes.”

Annabeth nodded. “It’s not usually obvious. It’s really only when you’re tired.” She paused. “... That’s when the bad things come back, isn’t it?”

Percy gave a slow nod. 

Annabeth nodded. She didn’t need to say anything more. She knew where he was coming from; she’d been there herself. 

There was a long pause before she rubbed his hand gently. “... Do you want to lie down?”

Percy looked at her, his vivid green eyes shy and tentative. “Will you lie down with me?”

Annabeth smiled and rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay. I  _ suppose _ I can do that.”

Percy smiled and lay down on his side, letting Annabeth reach her arms around him and pull him tight. He felt her drape her leg over his hips, pressing her inner thigh over his groin. “You trying to seduce me, Wise Girl?”

“‘Course not. Why would I do that?” The smile in her voice was evident as she spoke.

Percy’s lips turned up in a weak smile. “Whatever you say, smartass.”

Annabeth laughed. “You suck.”

Percy bit back the retort that was sure to get him slapped if he said it and relaxed, letting Annabeth’s inner thigh warm his hips. It was a good feeling.

Annabeth gently rubbed circles on Percy’s bare skin. Percy melted heavily into her arms. She relished his weight in her arms. It made her feel safe. “... Are you feeling any better?”

Percy nodded. “... A little, yeah.” He cleared his throat. “I… thank you so much.”

“Of course. It’s no problem for me.”

“No, I… I… it really means a lot. To me. That you were… that you were… so nice to me. And that you… you helped me out.”

“I keep telling you, it’s no problem,” Annabeth laughed, kissing the back of Percy’s neck. 

“... I feel bad.”

“Because you started crying?”

Percy nodded.

Annabeth laughed slightly. “It’s no problem, Seaweed Brain. Everybody cries sometimes. You pulled it together quick. Besides, no one knows about it but you and me, and I’m not mad, so…”

Percy snorted and took a deep breath. “Well, I’m glad you’re not mad at me. Just… don’t tell anybody, okay?”

“Why the fuck would I?” Annabeth laughed. “I mean, really, that would be such an nine-year-old move, being like ‘oh, ha ha, he’s a crybaby!’ Oh, gods, that’s dickish.”

Annabeth felt Percy’s chest rumble with laughter. She was glad he was happier, but she still worried about him. She didn’t think she ever  _ wouldn’t  _ worry about him. Her mind drifted to when Sally Jackson had tearfully confessed to her that she was worried that Percy was suicidal. She denied it at first, insisted that Sally was misinterpreting the whole situation, but then she’d seen how he reacted to the news of Jason’s death. She’d seen him kneeling on the beach, sword in hand, tears pouring down his face despite his attempts to stifle them. She’d seen Grover there, with him, telling him that it  _ wasn’t his fault,  _ despite him screaming that it was. She’d flung herself into his arms sobbing when she heard him say that if him spurning Apollo had meant he couldn’t be there for Jason then maybe  _ he  _ should be the one in the pyre. 

That had convinced her.

She kissed Percy’s shoulder. “... I love you, okay? Don’t worry about a thing.”

Percy turned around and hugged her tight. “I love you too. You don’t worry about anything either, Wise Girl.”

_ Except for you, _ Annabeth thought.  _ I have to worry about you. _

“I’ll try not to, Seaweed Brain.”


End file.
